Foiled by artifice

Wayne Hemingway's description of his son's reaction to university promotional material (Soapbox, THES , January 30) misses the point: admissions tutors look to recruit students who show evidence of critical thinking.

Candidates who base their application choice on whether a magazine has a "trendy, unacademic lower-case title", are unlikely to get far. They are also unlikely to make good decisions. Not everyone operates at the superficial level of design consultants.

Michael Merrifield
School of Physics and Astronomy
University of Nottingham